Golf is a sport and a recreational activity that is a meant to be fun yet competitive. Perhaps the one area of the golf game that distresses and strikes fear and trepidation into many golfers is the art of putting, once defined as a “game within a game.” To achieve a successful outcome, the golfer is required to align the putter head in three distinct planes or dimensions. In particular, he is required to align the putter head on the intended line of his putting stroke such that, at impact with the golf ball, the striking face of the putter head is delivered perfectly square to the ball and on a path of motion that is straight down the intended line of the putt. The golfer is also required to centre the face of the putter in a lateral plane from heel to toe of the putter head so that the point of impact of the golf ball is lined up precisely with the middle of the striking face. Perfect lateral alignment will eliminate twisting of the putter head in the heel-toe plane. The golfer is further required to align the putter striking face in the vertical plane so that the centre of the striking face impacts the ball on the equator of the ball, allowing the loft of the striking face to act efficiently on the ball and to improve the roll of the ball by minimizing backspin and skidding at impact. In a perfectly aligned orientation in all three dimensions, the ball will roll smoothly, stay on the intended line and reach the hole on target for the desired end result. A less than perfect 3-dimensional alignment will result in the force applied to the golf ball not having the intended effect on the travel of the ball.
Many prior art golf putters address one or two alignment dimensions but few address all three alignment dimensions. Those that do only do so to a very limited extent. An alignment system is desired that addresses all three alignment dimensions so that the golfer may develop repeatability and consistency in delivering the striking face to the ball in the same orientation, thereby allowing the golfer to correctly square the striking face to the intended line of the putt at address, to take the putter head away during the backstroke while maintaining a square-to-the-line orientation, and to deliver the putter head back to the golf ball in a square-to-the-line orientation. With constant, repeatable alignment in all three dimensions, the golfer will achieve improved performance in accuracy, ball speed and distance control.
Over the years, the golf industry has produced many golf putters designed to make the process of putting easier, less stress-inducing, and therefore more enjoyable for the golfer. However, many prior art golf putter heads are designed to increase the moment of inertia of the golf putter to reduce the adverse results of an off-centre strike, which is a very effective enhancement to better putting. Prior art golf putter designs generally focus on shifting mass to the sides and back of the clubhead to increase the moment of inertia, thereby reducing twisting and minimizing the undesirable effects of off-centre contact between the striking surface and the ball, including loss of distance and ball deviation from the intended line of the putt. Increasing the moment of inertia in this fashion also promotes better roll of the golf ball when struck. While this approach is beneficial to some extent, such golf putter head designs do not improve the opportunity for the golfer to align his club properly at address, takeaway the club properly on the backstroke, and keep the striking face square to the line on the forward stroke. In fact, few putter designs adequately address the difficulty that the majority of golfers have in consistently delivering the sweet spot on the striking face of the golf putter squarely to the golf ball. An alignment system is desired that allows the golfer to easily reference (e.g., using his peripheral vision) the fact that the golf putter is staying square to the intended line during the backstroke, the forward stroke and through impact with the golf ball.
Putting is often referred to as the mental part of the game of golf. Unfortunately, many prior art putter head designs complicate the mental part of the putting process by complicating the alignment system to the extent that it requires a high level of thought process before and during the putting stroke. Prior art golf putter head alignment systems generally try to relate painted or engraved markings or a series of indicia that are alien to the shape of a golf ball. For example, a flat plane visual alignment system is acceptable for a flat object like a ice hockey puck but is not intuitive for aligning a golf ball. Many prior art putter head designs introduce a complexity of angles, lines, points and other markings that, far from assisting the golfer with alignment, tend to distract and even disorient the golfer. Such putter head designs are not intuitive and lead to what has been aptly termed “paralysis by analysis.” A more natural alignment system is desired that is optimally effective for the golfer in that it gives a much quicker assessment of the orientation of the striking face, thus avoiding an excessive amount of analysis on behalf of the golfer on face angle, sweet spot, line of putt, and the like, that often leads to tension, lack of certainty, and ultimately, poor putting performance.
Other prior art putter head designs use weighting rods, barrels, and cylinders of varying sizes that purportedly increase centre-weighting by concentrating an increased amount of mass behind the sweet-spot of the striking face. Unfortunately, these designs are inherently unforgiving on off-centre strikes. In some cases, such golf putter heads are also alleged to enhance alignment; however, such golf putter head designs are not much better than an elongated centreline since the barrel edges do not relate to the edges of the golf ball and are also too short on the barrel to effectively assist with maintaining a square orientation of the striking face to the intended line of the putt.
An improved golf putter head design is desired that addresses these limitations in the designs of golf putter heads by simultaneously optimizing both the moment of inertia and alignment.